Multiple choice

Angela FullerTeacher, Staffordshire

Independence to one student can mean loneliness and isolation to another. Some young people blossom only when they leave home; others need the comfort and familiarity of family and friends to flourish. All fledglings will fly when they're ready, but some need longer in the nest. Mature students with family commitments may be unable to relocate and need somewhere close to home to study. The college where I work recently opened a higher education centre so that local students whose families could not afford to send them away to university could still access higher education. The growing popularity of the centre, with learner numbers up more than 30% this year, and the fact that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills recently went £128m over budget paying for the living expenses of university students, suggests that "home-grown students" may be something the government will encourage.

Eve MitchellParent, Surrey

More than 20% of students living at home sounds like a lot. Living with other people and mixing with them teaches you so much, plus it's fun. Learning how to pay a bill is important - and how to cook a meal. There were a lot of mature students at my university, who saw it as a "day job". The experience of living on campus was very different. From an employment point of view, it's not just your degree that's important, but clubs and sports, and if you live at home you don't have the same chance to do all that. I still live in the town where I was a student, and although for some of the locals it's a case of "bloody students!", the students support supermarkets, taxi companies, restaurants and clubs. One person I know who is going to university this year may not be able to move away from home because he is deemed to live too close to get a place in halls at the university he's chosen, even though it is more than an hour's journey. It seems as if more people are going to university and they just don't have enough room. You can expand class sizes, but finding accommodation for people is a real problem.

Alex Dowty Aged 19, from London

I think it is. University is about more than academic work, it's the opportunity to make new friends and try new things. Living at home won't stop you doing that, but it'll stop you being in the thick of it. It's good to be in college around people who are working on the same essay as you and to have someone to talk to at 2am if you're having a problem. Given the age at which most people go to university, it's a likely time for moving away from home in any event. There's an element of parental reassurance at university: halls are like sheltered housing for young people - there's an immense amount of freedom, but people will notice if you don't come out of your room for six weeks. Not all subjects are available in all areas, especially niche subjects. A friend of mine has gone to Newcastle because they have an excellent course in folk music. The main problem seems to be cost. A generation that benefited from free higher education shouldn't charge the next generation. You should be able to go to the best university you can possibly get into without cost affecting your choice.

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